I would aver that we are the victims of ego, ignorance and insensibility- Author Shah Imtiyaz

“We become more self-reliant and in the end, what we produce is trash. No one reads trash; it just gives us false ephemeral satisfaction”.

Shah Imtiyaz is author of two books; “The Caged Souls and Lost Star”. You are welcome, sir!
I am really overwhelmed. Thank you!

Q:Tell us about yourself? 
A:Well, my name is Shah Imtiyaz, and I belong toan inconsiderable and dwarfsuburb, detailed as Balham Rafiabad in Baramulla. I am an educator, novelist and a shutterbugby profession. I have publishedtwo books, ‘The Caged Souls’ and ‘LOST STAR’ separately. Apart from writing, my supplementary devotion is reading and spontaneous musings. I am an ardent devotee of both reading and musings! This is a kind of nation where you don’t feel lethargic and deserted. Capturing impossible things, creating depths is my passion.Taking hold of conceivable quirks, creating profundities is my fascination. I do have an intense courtship with such stunning and thrilled elements.

Q:How you started your journey as a writer?
A:I have begun my exploration as a writer in 2015, and at that time I was pursuing my graduation in Journalism. You know, it is really unusual when you get into such a profession without any rehearsals, trails and enthusiasm, then it become heavy for you to get adjusted. I had never reckoned of becoming a writer because I was more wound up and attributed to photography. I used to exit out and capture things from dawn to dusk. This concept of writing came into my mind when I was encircled with discomforts, miseries and complaints. I was suffering and battling to cope up with life, and all those antagonisms it provided me. I failed miserably to get back to the path where I was initially. I was not able to discover a way out to conquer my exhaustion. Thus, I would say depression and catastrophes provoked me to get into writing. With the transition of time, I began to ignore what I was going through. When you notice things around you faultlessly, then it becomes an understandable business for you to jot down whatever you want to. And I guess,it is only writing that made my living easier and convenient. 

Q:What was your parent’s reaction when they got to know about your writing?
A:They were startled, intrigued and enthralled to get to know about my scripts. You know what, when our parents are happy with what we have accomplished, whether little or big, it turns out to be a dignified moment for all of us. In fact, we keep waiting for the same. Our parents too feel proud when they discover their kids are performing well, and they keep encouraging us to achieve more and more success. You know, this affection, stimulus and their immense support help us throughout the process. We become more robust and devoted towards our work. I adore and idolize my family because they are the only who keep supporting me whatever the situation is? The little, kind and good thing we do, the big our parents pay us in the form of endorsements and assistance. I may never be able to pay back what they have done for me, but I will try my best to satisfy their demands.

Q:Why do you write?
A:Considerably, I write only to express what is buried inside me. What is reasonable and excessive? What is rational and irrational? What is realistic and unrealistic? We travel, observe, capture and talk with different kind of people around us. I guess whenever I met with any of them I feel there is an urge or we can say a need to write about such things. There is an urge to convert expressions and thoughts into words. The other reason is, I write to soothe my inner, shattered and wrecked peace. There is something inside me, insisting me to explore and write. I have become much correlated to writing as it assists me to learn how my inner peace acts and reacts. That’s why I spent much of my time in writing essays, short stories and novels. 

Q:Any difference you feel in yourself because of writing?
A:Yes, my life was thoroughly and completely altered because of writing. Earlier, I was not in a position to tackle with a dissimilar kind of challenges, but the writing did this job for me, perfectly and profoundly. I can envision myself in a new world where there are no pains and ills; even if you have such sort of elements in your mind, you write them down and feel relaxed. For me, writing is the only platform where we met with varied characters from diversified locations and scenes. The best thing is, you create them and made them behave as you desire. At the same time, you met with them, talk to them individually and ultimately, you feel comfortable in that sort of setting. Writing has brought assorted changes in me in the form a friend, comrade and beloved.

Q:You have written two books, titled as, ‘The Caged souls’ and ‘LOST STAR’ what are they all about?
A:Well, speaking about my first publication that was published in2018 after much toil and complications. It was totally about a voyage and during this voyage or we can say exploration you met with ghastliness, discomfort and intimidation. The book completely talks about Kashmir and how people are dwelling in that particular location? What kind of situations and pains they are having? Do they live happily or not? Every individual story you will get from this book about Kashmir and this book talks about my quest as well. There is a bit of drama or we can say tragedy towards the end.My second script is all about feminism. There is so much to explore about our womenfolk. The book discusses a female child who has considerable desires to caress the heights, but she is not given the freedom to earn what she wanted to. Her father suppressed her and kept her confined in the walled ramparts of her room. You can catch a brutal tragedy here also towards the end.

Q:How reading enhances our writing skill?
Reading does enhance our writing mastery. We read different genres, configurations and techniques as well. We become more and more linked to fresh impressions, thoughts of the best authors, etc. reading helps us to gain consistency in our writing process and it further assists us to acquire a different kind of proficiency. When we understand more and more, then it can positively support us to illustrate common things in a very distinctive way. Hence, we should read as much as possible as it could enrich our vocabulary; it could change our pattern of thinking in a better conceivable way. 

Q:Writing a book is never easy. So, how important research is before you begin to write a book? How to craft a goof novel?
A:Look, writing is never an easy job and it is presumably not everyone’s cup of tea. Writing requires patience, commitment, knowledge, understanding and creativity. If you do posses these you can definitely create a masterpiece, but before going into writing, there is another significant thing we need to do is research. It is important to do research before writing anything. If you write without any ideas and thorough research you can lose the compactness and what we call consistency. Research as much as you can and start writing when you are done because you already occupy the above-mentioned elements that are essential in the process of writing. Therefore, a better way to start writing is to do professional and profound research. Let me answer another question and that was, how to craft a good novel? If you are having a promising idea and reasonable writing skill that can compel your audiences to feel interested and impatient simultaneously, then you are on the right track of producing a masterpiece because if we are capable to satisfy what our readers need, then there is no better way than this to craft a good novel.

Q:What would be your message to aspiring writers?
A:We are surrounded by extraordinary intelligence in the subject area of writing and composition. Today, we discern that more and more people are showing their keen interest in writing. We should be happy and we should value their efforts as much as we can. But I would aver that we are the victims of ego, ignorance and insensibility. We never accept or take help from those who are experts in this particular field. We become more self-reliant and in the end, what we produce is trash. No one reads trash; it just gives us false ephemeral satisfaction. Thus, we should approach and get ourselves corrected. We should cast away such waste products that invade and exploit our minds permanently. You can compose a masterpiece under the supervision of masters. So, this is my message to our aspiring writers.

Thank you for sharing your journey with us, Imtiyaz! Best wishes.
I am pleased. Thanks a lot!